President Trump publicly lashed out at Sen. John Cornyn for blocking the confirmation of Acting Attorney General Todd Blanche, pointing to Cornyn’s sudden objections to an anti-weaponization fund and audit protections after Cornyn lost a primary to a Trump-endorsed opponent.
President Donald Trump took outgoing Sen. John Cornyn (R-TX) to task for holding up the nomination of Acting Attorney General Todd Blanche in the Senate. The dispute centers on a settlement that included an anti-weaponization fund and limited audit protections tied to Trump’s lawsuit against the IRS. Trump framed Cornyn’s stance as politically motivated and inconsistent.
Cornyn has refused to vote to confirm Blanche over concerns about the Anti-Weaponization Fund that he didn’t seem to care about before. That refusal has stalled a Judiciary Committee vote and put Blanche’s confirmation in limbo. Conservatives watching the fight see it as a test of GOP unity on accountability and fairness.
In a post on Truth Social, Trump went in on the senator saying he “never had a problem with the so called ‘Fund,’ which will not benefit me, but rather the great American Patriots who were hunted down like dogs and whose lives were unfairly and illegally destroyed by the Crooked Joe Biden Administration, until after I decided to Endorse and Support his Republican Primary opponent in Texas, who easily won the Nomination for the United States Senate.”
The president continued, saying “Perhaps there has never been a group of people treated so badly in our Nation’s history” and “They are suffering still, many ruined, and I felt that they should be given compensation for what has been done to them. I gave up any payments for myself, which would have been substantial, including for the illegal and unprecedented raid on Mar-a-Lago, my home in Florida, even though many legal experts, and others, including John Cornyn, said it was a shocking and disgusting display of ‘weaponization’ against me.”
“Such an event has never happened before, and hopefully will never happen again! I will always feel that these victims of government abuse should be paid back for what they were forced to endure, their lives have been ruined! Millions of people agree with me, as was proven in my landslide Presidential win, where this was a major subject of debate, and so did John Cornyn, until he lost his Election to an opponent that I Endorsed. Todd Blanche, a good man, should be immediately approved as U.S. Attorney General.”
Cornyn began pushing back against Trump after he refused to endorse him in his Senate primary campaign against Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton. Since that point, Cornyn has issued both covert and overt criticism and has taken actions that have slowed parts of the administration’s agenda. The rift has hardened into a confirmation fight over policy language and guarantees.
Cornyn is holding up Todd Blanche’s confirmation as attorney general by refusing to support a Senate Judiciary Committee vote until the Justice Department provides written modifications to a settlement of President Donald Trump’s lawsuit against the IRS. Republican senators want explicit, written guarantees that the anti-weaponization fund is permanently dead and that any audit protections are narrowly tailored. That demand has become the core bargaining position that’s delaying a committee vote.
“We’re been trying to help them get to a conclusion here and they won’t let us. It’s befuddling to me,” Cornyn told reporters. His public frustration underscores that negotiations have stretched far beyond a single nominee and now touch settlement language and long-term policy signals. Cornyn frames his role as protecting ordinary taxpayers from unequal treatment.
“We want to make sure that it remains dead and that the President isn’t given any immunity from future audits that the ordinary taxpayer would not enjoy,” Cornyn told reporters. “I think I am prepared to vote no, but I do think I owe it to my constituents and to Mr. Blanche to try to negotiate in good faith, and that’s what we’ve been doing.” Those comments make clear Cornyn expects precise, written limits rather than broad assurances.
Todd Blanche, Trump’s former personal lawyer who has served as acting attorney general since April, was formally nominated in June and appeared at a Senate Judiciary Committee hearing in mid-July. The panel postponed a planned vote after hours of negotiations failed to bridge Republican disagreements over the IRS settlement and the proposed $1.8 billion fund. With Blanche still serving in an acting capacity, the administration has floated procedural moves to keep him in place while pushing the confirmation later.
Trump hinted he might temporarily withdraw the nomination and resubmit it after key senators leave office, a move aimed at avoiding continued holdouts while preserving Blanche’s authority as acting AG. The saga highlights how internal GOP disputes over settlements and optics can reshape confirmation timelines. For many conservatives, the fight is less about personality and more about ensuring Republicans govern on principle.
https://x.com/theblaze/status/2082944276741169590
